thanks tabetha ok just to confirm that, what your saying is i need to remove the hydraulic lifter on no1 inlet valve and find full lift on cam lobe, when it says full lift i assume that is valve at full lift when OPEN ? or is that full lift when its sat on its seat ?. if i put a dail guage on the cam lobe the lobe will be pointing down opening the valve ? and wont be able to find full lift ? think this is where im going wrong.